


The Last Journey

by Galadriel1010



Series: The Clash of Worlds [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Torchwood
Genre: Community: reel_torchwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-05
Updated: 2013-10-05
Packaged: 2017-12-28 12:24:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/991974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galadriel1010/pseuds/Galadriel1010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An artifact from Jack's past becomes a key part of a race against time across the world to save the human race from enslavement. As Jack and Ianto near their goal, UNIT, Torchwood and the armies of Earth stand together in the last defence of their planet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Something jolted Ianto from his sleep, and he smacked his elbow against the wall of the cave as he started upright. He rubbed it and peered out, realising that he'd slept for far longer than he'd intended to. It was already nearly dark, and the air was heavy with the heat of a long day. Jack was still sitting at the entrance to the cave, so Ianto dragged himself down and sat next to him, pressing his knee against Jack's. "Sorry I slept so long," he muttered. "I must have been out for hours. Have you slept at all?"

"No." Jack barely glanced at him before turning his attention back to the shadowed darkness. "It's only been a couple of hours - check your watch."

Ianto did so and shrugged. "Long since broken. I don't know why I still carry it."

"Habit, I suppose. It's barely afternoon, anyway." He squeezed Ianto's leg and stood up. "But as it's dark, we should get going."

"Not until you've eaten something." Ianto went back to his bag and dug through it. "We only have that Magenbrot. I know you're not a fan, but you have to eat something."

"I'm not hungry." He sighed when Ianto held it out anyway and accepted it. "I don't think I'll ever be hungry for Magenbrot."

Ianto laughed quietly. "Tell me about it. I never thought I'd miss my cooking. First thing we do when we get back to Cardiff, if it's still there, is go to that Chinese buffet, and I'm going to eat everything."

"Ianto..." Jack trailed off, and got up to cup the back of his neck and kiss him instead. "That sounds good."

He leaned against Jack and tried to read the look that had crossed Jack's face for just a second before he crushed it. Such open hopelessness and despair hadn't been meant for Ianto's eyes. All he could do was hold Jack tighter for the moment he allowed it and follow like he always did.

# # #

The air was eerily still around them, hot, heavy and dry, and filled with the feel of laughter that carried over the roar of the bikes. Shadows danced under the trees around them despite the lack of breeze. Rick pulled his bike out of the convoy to the side of the road until Orlando and Martin caught up with him, and he could pull back in alongside them. The engines were too loud for conversation, but the look they shared told him that they had seen the shadows as well.

Up ahead, hovering alongside King Kiron, The Doctor was looking around with delighted interest, completely unconcerned by the eerie weight in the air. He had a map spread across the handlebars of his motorbike and was poring over it, dragging his fingers across the paper and tugging it straight to be able to see better.

The next corner brought them to the edge of the woods, where the road widened and ran between solid posts that had supported the fence. They had been destroyed by the passing army, hacked into misshapen lumps, and their chains taken for use as weapons or to be melted down. The road itself was cracked and broken, gouged by weapons and ripped up as if by a storm. They rode over the damage carefully, more watchful than ever now that they were out in the open and approaching the UNIT fort of Avgerinos.

What had once been a hulking threat on the landscape now lay broken and shattered, a single tall, windowless tower rising above ruined walls and collapsed buildings. As they drew closer they could see slabs of concrete lying cracked on top of each other creating deep shadows and echoing spaces, with twists of steel jabbing towards the sky and reaching towards them. The bike's engines seemed like screams in this devastation, and one-by-one the riders turned them off and dismounted, carrying on in silence into what had been the courtyard.

A merry laugh cut through the atmosphere like lightening, and they wheeled around to face it. Tosh and Owen waved at them from on top of a concrete block, where they were sitting on a picnic blanket and picking at a spread of cold meats, cheeses and bread. "Welcome to Avgerinos," Owen called. "Please join the housewarming party."

"We've been fighting, and you're sitting here having a picnic?" Martin exploded. "I don't..."

"We just finished and got here before you," Tosh told him, rolling her eyes. "There's plenty for everyone."

"Never mind that." Rick put his bike on the side stand and hurried over to them, helping Tosh down and hugging her. "We were so worried about you."

"The feeling was mutual." She hugged him back, tightening her fingers in his worn jumper. "Meliai told us what was happening."

"Meliai?"

The others had gathered close now, and Tosh stepped back to include them in her explanation. "Meliai is the Goddess of the forest. This used to be her land, and she has reclaimed it. She is waiting for us."

Rick turned to look in the direction Tosh indicated, and spotted the Doctor watching them. He stepped towards him and glared. "You knew."

"I suspected," the Doctor corrected him. He spread his hands to indicate their surroundings. "Besides, it's all okay now."

He looked around at the shattered walls and mounds of rubble. "Yes, Doctor."

"Hello down there!" The voice boomed off the ruins, distorted by the megaphone, and they all looked up at the tower. The top level had been a guard room, with a balcony so that they could look out over the courtyard and watch for escapees. The glass was shattered and the railings bent and twisted now, but the grinning figure leaned over without fear and waved down at them. "Doctor, can you hear me?"

"Oh, not again."

"Mister Master," the air shrieked, and in the blink of an eye they were surrounded by dancing figures of light and shadow. The soldiers backed away from them and raised their weapons, whilst the UNIT troops stood their ground with wary, weary eyes. Only Tosh and Owen were unconcerned, Tosh even holding her hand out for one tiny figure to land on it and dance on her fingers. "The Timelord dances on."

"These are the Dryads," Tosh explained, turning her hand over for the one dancing on her fingers. "They are Meliai's people. They did what you see around you, but they can't touch the Master."

"Too strong, too guarded," a willowy figure stepped out of the wheeling, dancing lights. Her hair was long and scattered with flowers, and she was naked save for a drape of grassy-green fabric that did nothing to hide her brown, mottled skin. "I am Meliai, and this is my place, but he is the lord of time and even here I cannot reach to him."

"Yes, well. I can, so if you all wait here, I'll go and deal with him." The Doctor squared his shoulders and turned his back on them, walking towards the tower. Rick looked at Tosh, Owen, Orlando and Martin, shrugged, and followed him.

"Coo-ee, Doctor." The Master leaned over further and waved down at them. "It's been a long time, hasn't it? Well, not for me. It's been so long for you..."

"What do you want, Master?" He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket and rocked back on his heels. "You're trapped up there, you know. Your protections will hold until you leave the building, and then the Dryads will get you. You can't leave, and you can't stay. The Lashimi won't be pleased with you for picking such a small-scale war and uniting their enemies. People are starting to stand up at last."

"Oh, you're so boring now." He pulled a tablet from his pocket and peered at it, even as he kept hold of the megaphone. "Why did you have to regenerate? Oh, wait... That was me, wasn't it?"

"Come down," the Doctor yelled, still managing to sound weary and bored about it. "Come down, I'll take you to my TARDIS; the offer's always open."

"And I'll be your pet? No thanks - that's what you have the freak for. How is he, anyway? Still screaming at night?" He looked past the Doctor, to Tosh and Owen. "I do miss dear Jack."

Tosh hissed and Rick reached out for her shoulder. "Doctor, can we wrap this up now? He's not going to come down, so let's leave him there."

"Not yet," he told them, and then raised his voice again. "What about Lucy? Is she up there with you?"

"Darling Lucy, always coming back to me." He reached back and tugged the frightened woman to the edge of the balcony, ignoring her screams and attempts to get away from him. "That's what I call love."

"Let her go! She doesn't deserve this."

"Oh, but I like Lucy." He turned his gaze on her and she stilled, swaying in a gust of breeze. "She's so obedient."

"So let her go!" The Doctor ran his hand through his hair and stabbed a finger up at them. "What you're doing is wrong."

"Is it?" He pulled Lucy closer again, pressing the tablet against her back and grinning down at them. A moment later he yelled out, and the horrified watchers averted their eyes as the pair tumbled, with Lucy wrapped tight around him, to the foot of the tower.

Rick averted his eyes, but he couldn't close his ears against the sickening noise. Next to him, Tosh choked, and he reached out to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Just wasn't expecting that." She extricated herself from him and looked over at the Doctor. "Should we..."

"Let's make sure he's dead first," Martin muttered.

They picked their way through the rubble, staying a respectable distance behind the Doctor. When he stopped and dropped his gaze, though, Rick, Martin and Tosh went past him, forcing down the bile when they got too close. Tosh hung back, leaving Martin and Rick to search their bodies, retrieving a few broken pieces of tech from the Master and a familiar ring from Lucy, and then to cover them with blankets from their packs. "We'll have to bury them here," Rick pointed out eventually. "Or build a pyre. We can't leave them here, and we can't take them with us either."

"We'll ask the Doctor what he recommends." Martin brushed his hands off and turned back to the group, pausing in his turn. "Tosh, what have you got there?"

"I don't know." Rick followed his gaze and saw Tosh looking at a flat tablet, turning it over and over. "It's like a tablet computer of some sort, but I can't figure out..." she stiffened suddenly, until the Doctor snatched it out of her hands and tucked it into his pocket. "Doctor?"

"It's nothing," he lied. "Just... just a thing. It doesn't matter."

They looked at each other, but the Doctor was striding past them, ignoring them, and they knew that answers would come later, if they came at all.

# # #

They stopped once more, when Ianto couldn't go on any further, and Jack at least hid his frustration. Andrea, on the other hand, complained bitterly, and settled down into a sulk when Jack insisted that they stop for him. Ianto had drifted off to the soundtrack of her mutterings, with his head in Jack's lap and Jack's fingers in his hair.

Andrea was gone when he woke, and Jack had shifted beside him and was now stretched out on his back, fast asleep. He looked relaxed for the first time in too long, and something clenched at Ianto's heart, something that made him want to lie down next to Jack and never get up.

He dragged himself away against the impulse, and got up carefully so that he could stretch his legs without waking Jack. The fissure in the cliff that they had hidden in led out onto the wave cut platform that ran down to the water's edge, and Ianto intended to go down to the water to clean his face - as much as was possible in the now-polluted sea.

Andrea was at the water's edge, trailing her fingers through the scum and scrabbling at the rocks. She hadn't noticed Ianto's emergence, so he was content to ignore her as long as she was ignoring him. Jack was right that they needed her, but he hoped that they could leave her behind when they reached the tunnel.

She was muttering to herself, as usual, and still seemed oblivious to him. His blood boiled when he got close enough to understand her - there was no mistaking her bitter invective and gleeful scheming.

"You monster," he hissed, starling her from her rant. She yelped and scrambled back form him along the water's edge. "How long have you been planning? How long have you been sitting there fawning over Jack and planning to kill us? I knew all along you couldn't be trusted!"

He dove for her and caught hold of her arm, dragging her back towards the cliff and Jack whilst she screamed and scratched at his face. Jack's voice rang out, clear and sharp in the stillness. "Ianto! What the hell?"

"I heard her plotting," he told him fiercely, then yelped as she bit his arm. "She's a monster."

"Ianto, no." Jack hurried over and caught her, gathering her up in his arms and checking her over. She cowered like a frightened child, but smirked over her shoulder at Ianto. "She's just a kid."

"Ianto hates me," she whimpered pitifully, and he turned away in scorn. "Only want to help, only want to go home. Ianto's mean."

"Hey, it's okay," Jack reassured her quietly, rubbing her back. "He doesn't mean it, I promise."

"Jack, trust me..."

"I do." He released Andrea and let her hide behind his legs whilst he turned to face Ianto. "But you're wrong this time. You're paranoid, and that's understandable and it's my fault, but that's all it is. You're expecting betrayal and so you see it." He crossed the short distance between them and cupped Ianto's cheek, bringing him back to meet his eyes. "Trust me, please? We can't do this without her."

He closed his eyes and nodded. "Always."

Jack kissed his forehead, then his lips. "Thank you." He turned back to Andrea and held his hand out. "Safe, I promise. Alright?"

She nodded and slipped her hand into his, and Jack had turned to Ianto with a smile when she smirked again, showing off sharp, broken teeth.

# # #

Owen glared at the wall and shoved his pillow into a more comfortable position again. The rumbling snores around the room grated on his nerves, and Tosh's tossing and turning wasn't helping at all. He closed his eyes, but before long it had become too much and he rolled onto his other side to glare at her instead. "Can't you lie still?"

She was facing away from him, and he saw her shoulders hunch under the blanket. "Sorry," she whispered. "I can't sleep."

"The snoring?"

"Partly." She curled her fingers around the blanket. "I keep thinking about that thing the Master had. I was so close to figuring it out, and now I..." she blushed and hid her face under the pillow. "It's silly."

"We're used to it, Tosh." Owen propped himself up on his elbows and looked around the room. It seemed like everyone but them was asleep, and the Doctor had left his jacket behind when he'd wandered off to do whatever he was doing. "Why don't you see if he's left it? It can't hurt," he added, when she looked unsure. "Worst-case scenario, you can't get it to work."

Glancing over her shoulder, Tosh got up and picked her way carefully between the rows of sleeping soldiers to the door, where the Doctor's coat hung from a hook. For a moment she looked disappointed, and Owen assumed that the Doctor had taken the tablet with him, but then she brightened up again and turned back to him, walking with more confidence and the tablet pressed against her chest. "I got it," she breathed when she got back to him. "I don't think he's tried to use it."

Owen sat up to watch her work, offering a torch to make it easier. She drew her blanket over her shoulders to shield the light from the rest of the room and rested the tablet on her lap, curling over it and running her fingers over it, checking every centimetre. It dragged on, and Owen settled down to sleep again, now that she was focused and still.

He was just drifting off on a fog of exhaustion, thoughts muddied and slow, when a wrenching scream shattered the atmosphere. The blanket was suddenly constricting, and he had to fight it off to get into a sitting position. Tosh was writhing on the floor, the tablet glowing brightly in her hands, eyes wide and staring as she whimpered.

The door burst open and Rick and the Doctor ran in. Owen dived for Tosh, wrapping the blanket around the tablet to pull it out of her hands and tucking it away under his pillow before the Doctor arrived and caught Tosh. He eased her back onto her bed and brushed her hair off her face, resting his fingers against her temples and leaning towards her with his eyes closed. For long moments he held her there, leaning over her, and everyone around them seemed frozen in position, but then he pulled back and looked down at her with disappointment and worry in his eyes, and Owen finally felt able to move to pull Tosh up into his arms and hold her.

"Owen, give me the tablet," the Doctor told him, reaching out to tuck Tosh's hair behind her ear. "And then bring her out to the mess hall."

X~X~X~X

Tosh was badly shaken by whatever had happened, and it was a while before she was steady enough to be able to walk. Owen could feel the eyes of the room on them as they stepped over and around people, and he wrapped his arm tighter around her to keep guiding her through. The Doctor had taken the tablet, still wrapped in the blanket, through to the mess hall with him, leaving them to pull themselves together.

Out in the hall, the remains of the meal had long since been cleared, and Rick, Martin and Orlando sat at one table, with King Kiron pacing the gangway between them and the Doctor standing at the window, looking out into the darkness. Tosh avoided their eyes as she sat down, and drew the blanket more tightly around herself. The silence hung heavy over them until Orlando cleared his throat. "So what is the device, Doctor? Why is it so dangerous?"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair and looked around at them. "It's a communication device, designed to bridge the distance between the Lashimi and enable the psychic link between them - normally they need to be able to touch each other to communicate fully, but one of these can act as a physical connection. The Master must have been using this to communicate with them."

"So it created a psychic link with me?"

"It forced a psychic link with you," the Doctor corrected her. "Your mind isn't designed for that type of communication, so it had to force its way into your mind."

"What will it have got from her?" Rick asked.

"Not a lot." He turned to pace, gesticulating as he talked. "That sort of forced connection is clumsy. It connects to what it can find, and that's usually pain. Maybe concern for people you care about, fear, anger... it would have needed much longer to extract anything of importance."

"I saw... I saw darkness. People enslaved. And a ship, flying high above the Earth." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "They were... they were turning to the stars."

"The Valiant." The Doctor came to crouch in front of her and took her hands. "Did you see anything else? Anything that would tell us where they are?"

"I don't know!" She turned her face away. "There was desert... just sand."

"Marsam." They looked up at Rick. "Marsam is the closest UNIT base to their position. UNIT would send the Valiant to support it if it were attacked."

"And if they took the Valiant, no one would be able to stand in their path." The Doctor wheeled around and approached Rick. "You have heard the stories of the sands? Come to Marsam by the singing road. Marsam will need us."

Rick nodded and looked over at Tosh. "And what about everyone else?"

"Tosh and I will go to Marsam now. I need to make sure that they know what faces them. Marsam will need all of you." He returned to Tosh and kissed her forehead. "Sleep longer. We leave at dawn."


	2. Chapter 2

Tosh clung to the Doctor and kept her head down as much as she could. She had a scarf wrapped around her head and a pair of ridiculously bright swimming goggles to protect her eyes, but the sand found its way udder the covering and stung her face and arms. They had been travelling for what seemed like days - and if she hadn't lost count then they had driven through two dawns - skimming across the land and then across the Mediterranean Sea without even a pause. She had dozed for a few hours, snatching sleep here and there, but the Doctor had stayed grim-faced and focussed on their destination, holding her in place on the bike the whole time. Since they crossed into the desert, though, the sand had stung at her and kept her awake, no matter how hard she tried to keep it out.

The sun was setting when they crested a hill and the Doctor pulled the bike to a halt, turning side on so that she could see the vista spread out below them. Her breath caught in her throat - the rich light of sunset touched on the ruins of Luxor, casting deep shadows in pools behind the crooked and crazed buildings. "It's beautiful," she breathed. "I never thought I'd see it."

"It's a shadow of what it once was," he told her. "I liked Luxor. It was quiet, comparatively. God could Cleo party. It's all gone now, though..."

"There's no tourists. No birds, no... anything." She looked around, straightening up and wincing as she did so. "Shouldn't there be people here?"

The Doctor dismounted and helped her to do the same. She thought that he wasn't going to answer, and when her leg cramped up she didn't really care, but he caught her and guided her to sit on a rock, then sat next to her and said, "Not here. Not so close to the Lashimi base. They're all gone."

"Oh." It wasn't quite so beautiful anymore. "What are we doing here, then?"

"We're waiting until it's dark before we approach UNIT Marsam. It's not locked down yet, but I don't want to risk approaching it by day. I'd rather only one of them was shooting at us." He ignored Tosh's start and continued, "I need to see Commander Charlond. The fight is coming sooner than he thinks."

"Charlond?" She looked up at him. "Is he related to Anton?"

"His father." Sighing, he looked down at her, and his face was silhouetted against the deep blue of the sky, shrouded in shadow. "He may not yet know - and we don't want to be the ones to tell him."

# # #

They entered the base after nightfall, and Tosh was shivering in the sudden cold by the time they persuaded the guards to let them in to see the commander. A soldier led them through the seven rings of defences, giving them orders in clipped, heavily-accented French, to the nerve centre of the operation. Computers around the wall flashed and beeped with readings and communications from their sensors and from other bases, and soldiers in UNIT slacks hurried to and fro between the computers and their dedicated monitors. Above them were gridded gantries like those at the Hub, and the people standing on them, watching the proceedings below, paused in their conversations to watch their entrance even as the soldiers working on their level ignored them.

A tall, well-built man with close-cropped, greying hair slapped his hand on the railing, said something to the man next to him, and started descending the stairs to them. Each step rang under his feet, and the sound brought the noise levels in the room even lower.

"Doctor," he greeted when he reached them. "I did not expect to see you here."

"Commander Charlond." The Doctor greeted him with a smile and rocked back on his heels. "It has been a very long time."

"For you, maybe. I feel it is not so long for me." He indicated to two soldiers and turned to walk out of the room. The soldiers immediately pushed up behind the Doctor and Tosh, guiding them out onto the corridor behind him. "I do not know what brings you here, but it will not be good, no?"

"Does anyone have good news in these dark times? We have come from Greece..."

"You have come from your travels with my son." He paused with his hand on the door. "I know what happened, Doctor. I do not think that I can forgive."

Tosh glanced at the Doctor and took a step forwards. "Your son was a brave man, sir. He lost his life in saving mine, and I can never repay that debt. He was a noble man; I am honoured to have met him."

"I am proud of him, but I cannot say that it is a relief to hear that he gave his life for yours." The commander pushed the door open and led them into a small office. It was minimally decorated, with a concrete floor and a Spartan desk. A photograph of Anton hung on the wall opposite the desk, and another stood next to the computer.

The Doctor sat down, without being invited, and stretched his long legs out along the front of the desk. "The battle will come to you soon," he told Commander Charlond. "They struck a decisive victory in Greece, but the Master was just a pawn in this war. The Lashimi will strike back now that they know we can do so."

"You say this like I would not be aware of it, Doctor." Charlond sat down stiffly and started shifting reports on his desk. "We are aware of their movements, and of their breadth of knowledge. We are ready for them."

They looked at each other worriedly, concerned by his distracted tone, and the Doctor leaned forwards. "How do you know what they're planning?"

"We have our sources." He spared them a brief, sharp glance, and continued as passively as before. "A device has fallen into our hands - it is an invaluable source of information. It will win us this fight, Doctor."

"If you know their plans, why have you not called for help?" He leaned forwards, propping his elbows on his knees. "Greece is ready to respond to your call, and UNIT is unified against them. They lack focus, but at your call they will rally to you. Why haven't you called for them?"

Charlond scoffed. "We need no aid. We are strong, no? They will underestimate us, I know it." He glanced down at his desk and shifted his papers over something. "I have seen it."

Before he could move again, the Doctor had reached across the desk to snatch whatever he was trying to hide. Tosh gasped when she saw it, and backed away quickly. "That's..."

"Yes. Tosh here found one of these - she found it in my pocket, actually. Shouldn't have done that, but we all make mistakes. Do you know what it is, Commander Charlond?"

"It is one of their communication devices. Their radio." He gestured at it. "It links us straight to the heart of their plans."

"And it links them to the heart of your plans as well." He turned it over quickly, sniffed it, peered at the cracks. "No way to turn it off. Damn!" Whilst they watched on in shock, he ran his screwdriver along the edges and then tossed the device onto the desk. "Keep it. It's only telling you lies."

"No, Doctor, you tell me lies." Charlond stood up and leaned forwards, resting his knuckles against the desk. "Leave now. You will have to remain with us until the combat is fought."

The door opened again immediately, and the two soldiers who had escorted them down to the office entered to remove them. They were taken to a small break room and left there in silence.

# # #

Ianto found himself walking along behind Jack, rather than alongside him as he had most of the time since they arrived in Africa - maybe even earlier. Something had driven a wedge between them - she was scampering ahead at that moment, on her hands and knees to get through the dunes, but she was as likely to trot alongside Jack or cling to his hand.

The sand slipped from under Ianto's feet again and he yelped as he went down, resigned to sliding down to the beach. It took a moment for Jack to notice, Ianto realised bitterly, and when he did he simply stopped to wait for him and turned to look out across the water.

Something he saw there changed his mind, and he looked around quickly before starting down the slope to the shore. Ianto picked himself up and trudged on to meet him, taking the offered support of Jack's hand to steady himself. "What have you seen?" he asked, and realised that his voice was rough from not speaking all day.

"There's ships coming," Jack explained, tugging him along. "Lots of them. We need to find shelter."

"What about the dunes?"

"Too risky if we don't know where they're going to land," he pointed out. "They could come in right on top of us. The land rises a bit ahead, though - we might find an overhang there."

He nodded and kept tight hold of Jack's hand as they slid and stumbled up the dunes and over the crest, until they were out of sight of the shore. It left them unable to gauge the ships' approach, but being able to see them coming would be no help if they were spotted. Andrea gibbered at them when they reached her, sheltering in a valley between the dunes, and went on only reluctantly.

True to Jack's prediction, when the land started rising they found a rocky overhang that faced inland instead of towards the sea. Jack pushed Ianto into it and dumped his bag, then scrambled up to get another look at the oncoming army. He returned barely a minute later, dropping off the edge and rolling in the sand to cushion his fall. "They're nearly here," he gasped, tucking himself in against Ianto and pulling him in with an arm wrapped around his shoulders. "Now we have to hope."

Too soon they heard the thundering of countless feet travelling at speed towards them, up over the raised ground that was sheltering them. Sand and dust drifted down on them, and Ianto felt Jack tense and pull himself up, ready to shelter Ianto if he needed it. Andrea was pressed against the back wall, curled up as small as she could with her hands over her ears. Ianto closed his eyes and rested his head on Jack's shoulder. "War's coming somewhere," he breathed. "Just let them pass us by."

Jack's only response was to tighten his arms around Ianto, and press him even closer.

# # #

Tosh followed the Doctor down the corridor and tried not to look furtive. It had taken a moment's work with the Doctor's sonic screwdriver to get them out of the locked break room, and then it was a matter of pretending that they were where they were supposed to be. He guided her through a maze of passages to a store room at the back, where outdated computers stood on racks, waiting to be shipped off and recycled.

"There's no way we'll get access to their systems," he told her, "but we might be able to use this to rebuild one of our own and get onto the network, don't you think?"

"Definitely." She started pulling computer parts down from the shelves and laying them out on top of one of the large boxes. "I can walk into the UNIT network, no problem. I wrote half of it."

"Toshiko Sato, you're a genius." He watched her working and, to his credit, did what he was told with a minimum amount of fuss and argument. They got a computer set up on top of a box very quickly, and once they found a Wi-Fi dongle it took Tosh barely a moment to start getting into the network.

"Right." She flexed her fingers over the keyboard and looked up at him. "What do you need me to do?"

"UNIT have an alarm network, don't they?" She nodded, and he leaned over her. "I need you to get into their alarm network and send out a request for assistance. Source it from here, but make it invisible to this base."

"But make the invisibility invisible to everyone else." She smiled up at him. "I'll see what I can do."

"You're a genius, Tosh. You'll do it."

X~X~X~X

Rick sat on a table in the duty room and shuffled his cards. He was the only person in there, keeping an eye on the monitors whilst everyone else had dinner, and he enjoyed the peace and quiet. The monitors had all been silent almost since the invasion, and it was an opportunity to let his mind drift.

As a result, it took a while for him to realise that the ringing was in the room with him. He jumped to his feet and hurried over to the chair, dropping into it and pulling the headset on. The data scrolled across the screen repeatedly, showing the cry for help. "Tosh..."

He scrambled up again and hurtled through the building to the mess. They turned to stare at him, and he fought with the urge to tell them about the troll. "There's a UNIT back-up request alert come through. Marsam are calling for allies."

All eyes turned to King Kiron. His eyes filled with pain for a moment, but he stood and nodded to Rick. "Then we move to Marsam. We ride at dawn."

# # #

Tosh joined the rush through the halls, as it was easier than fighting against the crowd. She tried to memorise the route again, but they moved so fast and so easily, and she was swept along in the middle, unable to see how many doorways she was passing at times. Most of them spoke in Arabic, either fast, fluent and fluid or in broken, accented scraps of sentences. Those who didn't speak Arabic mostly spoke French, and she was able to pick up enough of what was happening from them. An outer defence had fallen, and the Commander's son had returned with them.

The defensive circles of the base were filled with twisting corridors that every soldier knew like the back of their hands, but which would trap any invaders in deadly dead ends. It seemed to be miles before they got out to the mess hall where the returning troops, those who had survived, were gathered, tending their wounds and avoiding people's gazes. They moved with the slow lethargy of those carrying grief and pain, and everyone in the mess knew it well enough to hang back and give them their space.

All apart from the Doctor.

He hovered over them, questioning them quickly, needing to know who, what, how. Most of them brushed him off angrily, but their leader - who was clearly the commander's on, even if the resemblance to Anton wasn't as clear - pulled him aside wearily. Tosh hurried over to them to reattach herself to the Doctor.

"Yves Charlond, Doctor," the man introduced himself as she arrived, and gave her a tired smile. "Madame. You are a friend of the Doctor?"

She nodded quickly. "I worked for Torchwood. We've been travelling together since this began."

That brought him up short, and he gave her a curious look. "Torchwood, I am seeing everywhere."

"You've seen Jack and Ianto?"

"Just yesterday," he confirmed. "They were safe, when they left us. They are travelling with another - not human, I believe."

The Doctor gripped his shoulder. "Which way were they going? Were they coming here?"

"No, they were to go by another route." He gestured towards the wall behind him. "Below the sea there are tunnels. They planned to go by the hidden routes." The Doctor's face had darkened, and Yves leaned forwards. "Doctor?"

"What?" He turned back to them and gave them a clearly forced smile. "Nothing. They'll be fine."

He turned and walked away, passing through the crowd as if surrounded by a physical aura, and Tosh bit her lip. "Now I really am worried," Yves told her, voicing her own thoughts.

# # #

Tosh was led to the operations centre again. The Doctor was already there, watching impassively from the corner whilst the bustle rushed around him. Commander Charlond looked up at her entrance and beckoned her over. "Miss Sato. As you are to remain here for the foreseeable future, and we are in a time of danger, I would ask you to join with UNIT temporarily. If you choose not to, we will have to imprison you, as my men cannot be spared to guard you."

She glanced over at the Doctor, who gave her no reply to her unasked question. "I would like to make myself useful," she decided. "I will consent to being seconded to UNIT for the duration."

He nodded and gestured one of his aides over. "Hosni will arrange it. You will follow all orders given to you. I will not risk the lives of my soldiers on protecting you, or on your misbehaviour."

"And yet you will risk them on a mission to retake a position that has already been lost and overrun," the Doctor spoke up at last, striding across to slam his palm on the table and lean towards the commander. "It's not going to work, and they will die. That's all that can come of it."

"Doctor, Marsa Alam is our last line of defence before this base," Charlond sighed. "If we attempt to retake it, we will at least hold them back a while longer. At the moment, this is possibly the best we can hope for. It will force a show of their strength. I dare say that their strength will be sufficiently limited that we will retake it without trouble."

He growled and ran his hand through his hair. "You're wrong. You're just going to get them killed. Your men, your son!"

"It seems to be my lot in this war, Doctor." His eyes were cold when they landed on Yves. "I'm sure that he will do me proud."

Tosh flinched back from it and signed her name to the papers quickly. Yves' eyes were as empty as his father's were cold, and he turned away and left without another word.

She was startled when Hosni handed her a pass card and a UNIT insignia badge. "This pass card will get you access to all the parts of the base you need to reach. Stay close to your group - the passages are easy to get lost in, and you would not want to be trapped if we have to fall back."

"I've always been a tactical person," she admitted, "but I can cope with that. I've done enough field service in Cardiff. I just hate not knowing what we're going to face, you know?"

"Every day is different. A different threat." His eyes were bleak, as were the rest of the team's. "I do not believe that we will ever be safe again."

She found that she couldn't argue with that.


	3. Chapter 3

Ianto stirred, shivering in the chill of the desert night. The heat of day leaked away so quickly and left them huddling together in the darkness, hungry and hoping for sleep to come. Jack lay in his arms, drifting in a troubled sleep, and Ianto held him tighter and rubbed his arms to help him warm up more.

There was movement behind him, putting him on alert. He turned carefully so as not to wake Jack and strained his eyes staring into the darkness. Andrea was visible only in a lack of stars, but as he got used to the darkness he could see her more clearly, crouched over their bags.

He extricated himself carefully and tucked Jack in better, then padded over to her. She was studying her hands now, shoulders tense, and she glanced over at him nervously. "Jack still sleep?" she asked.

"Still asleep," he confirmed. She shifted away whilst he started looking through his bag for another jumper. There was one tucked right down at the bottom, filthy from a fall he'd had but wearable when he was this cold, but he knew it should have been harder to find it. Half of their food had been in his bag, and there wasn't nearly as much of it as there should have been. "Andrea? Have you been in my bag?"

"No..." She looked over at him and hunched over. "That would be naughty. Not naughty."

He shot her another look. "Fine, if you say so."

"What's going on?"

Jack had sat up behind him, and Ianto turned to smile at him. "Nothing. I just... must have packed some of the stuff somewhere else."

"Right." He got up from the pile of blankets and came to crouch next to Ianto. "What have you lost?"

"Half the food that was in my bag," he admitted. "I must have put it somewhere else."

Andrea murmured, dragging Ianto's attention to her. There was a piece of paper close to her, and Ianto reached out for it. "You said you hadn't gone in my bag! Jack, this is one of the Magenbrot packets."

"Ianto!" Jack reached out and grabbed him before he could lunge for her, and shifted his grip. "Ianto, what have you been lying in?"

He reached up to feel it and discovered sticky crumbs. A moment later he was blinking in the torchlight, and Jack's hand tightened on his arm. "What..."

"Ianto, there's crumbs all over you." Jack pushed him away. "Andrea hates that stuff, you know she does. You should just have said something," he sounded hurt more than angry. "I knew I should have made sure you were eating enough."

"It wasn't me! I just woke up to find her hanging around our stuff." He reached out for Jack and turned to glare at Andrea when he was batted off. "What did you do?"

"Ianto..." Jack sighed and turned away. "Don't lie, not about this. Not about anything."

"I didn't do it!" He turned and grabbed Andrea. "Why are you doing this?"

"Jack!"

"Ianto." Jack dragged him off her and staggered back when Ianto wheeled around and struck out at him. "What the Hell?"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's this place and this... thing. She's trying to come between us." He held onto Jack and shook him. "You have to see that."

"No, Ianto, I'm sorry." Jack disengaged himself from Ianto's hands. "I never should have let you come with me. I need Andrea to show me the way, and I can't let this come between us anymore." He kissed Ianto's cheek. "Go home. I'll come back to you."

He shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. Jack seemed blind to sense – there was no way that Ianto would survive trying to get home, and it seemed clear to him that Andrea wanted them separated. "Jack, no..."

"Ianto, go." He bent and packed his blankets into his bag, leaving Ianto's for him to collect. "Be safe."

He choked, but felt rooted to the spot, unable to stop Jack walking away.

# # #

The forces of the European UNIT bases were massing around Athens. The bases, boarding houses and schools were full of troops, and at the edges of the city more troops camped under the cover of the scrubby trees, all waiting for the order to sail across the Mediterranean. French, German and English were the predominant languages, but everywhere Orlando went he heard a dozen different tongues, and the strange pidgin language that the older soldiers used.

He found Martin in one of the mess rooms, covering over a communal vat of stew that looked to have far too many cooks, all of them talking in the pidgin. Martin waved him over when he saw him, and dropped into English to introduce him. "This is Orlando, our sharp shooter. He's a scientist, but we don't hold that against him."

"Scientists have their uses," the only woman in the group told him, elbowing him in the ribs so hard he stumbled. "Especially if they can shoot."

"I try my best." he tried to rub his ribs surreptitiously, and gave up when he spotted their knowing smiles. "Martin, can I have a word? Whilst we take a gentle totally innocent stroll over to see what Rick's up to," he added.

"Oh, that sort of word." He grabbed three bowls and, despite the protestations of the other chefs, ladled out two bowls of the stew. Orlando accepted one and a spoon and, calling farewells over their shoulders, they set off back towards the headquarters at a brisk pace.

The headquarters were in an abandoned hospital on the outskirts of the city, and it had taken Orlando and Martin only a couple of hours to find half a dozen routes in and out and identify the quickest way to get to all of Rick's favourite haunts. They chatted as they went, waving their spoons around freely, and got back to the hospital sooner than anyone else would have expected. Rick winked at a pretty young aide going the other way down the corridor and pushed the door Orlando indicated open. "Rick, you have missed the... Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart," he stuttered, trying to snap to attention with a bowl of soup in his hand. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't realise you were here."

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart waved his apology aside with a smile and paused to look him and Orlando up and down. "I'm glad to see you both still with us, still trudging along. You're both doing a remarkable service for your countries - for the world." He looked over at Rick and back to them. "It's not over yet."

"It's never over," Orlando pointed out. He shot Martin a glare. "Take it from a scientist."

"Absolutely true," the Brigadier pronounced. "And on that note of wisdom, I'm afraid I must go and herd cats. I mean, chair a meeting if the regional leaders of UNIT. I had hoped to see the Doctor, but no matter." He tapped his stick on the floor once, saluted them, and left.

Rick raised an eyebrow and glanced at the bowls in their hands. "I don't suppose you brought any for me?"

"Not a chance," Martin scoffed. "So tell, what did he want?"

"Nothing. Well, not nothing. I have to do something for the war." He hesitated and shrugged. "I won't be coming with you to Marsam - I'll come, but by another road."

Orlando rolled his eyes at Martin and perched himself on the table next to Rick. "Rick, dear idiot, do you really think that there's any chance of that?"

"It's dangerous out there," Martin added. "There's aliens and bears and things... You'll need someone who can actually shoot, and someone who can cook without giving you food poisoning."

Rick grinned, despite his apparent best efforts not to. "Do you have any other uses, Martin?"

"Dozens." He scowled. "And I'll tell you what they are when they come in useful."

"I guess I'd better tell you where we're going, then." Rick pushed himself out from between them and pulled a USB key from his pocket. "UNIT have known for many years about the other beings that live on Earth. The corner-of-your-eye, shadowed figures we try not to see. Tosh and Owen got help from the tree spirits in the attack on the Master, so UNIT have decided that someone has to try and call them for help again." He paused and glanced at them. "And when I say UNIT I mean the Brigadier. And when I say someone..."

"You mean you." Orlando sighed. "Do you think it will work?"

"I don't know." He rubbed the drive with his thumb and stared at it. "UNIT will offer them a new era of cooperation in which they can live freely and openly, as long as they don't try to harm humans. And I guess we have to hope they take it."

There was a slurping sound from where Martin was sitting, and he peered at them over his bowl. "We'd better get our transport there sorted, then. You do that; I'll go pack us some food."

Rick called out to stop him, and smiled at both of them. "You two... thank you."

"It's what we're here for," Orlando assured him. "You'd have done the same for either of us."

# # #

Owen kicked a rock down the road and swore at it. "Of all the fucking stupid..."

"Owen?"

"Your Highness?" He turned to Princess Athene, Adrastros' sister, and forced a smile. "I'm sorry, I'm just..."

"Frustrated, I understand." She smiled at him and looked out at the horizon, where the ship bearing Rick, Martin and Orlando had disappeared shortly after dawn. "We all are one way or another."

"Frustrated and riding to war. Not the best combination." He leaned against the wall and looked her over. "You're armed."

"Again, who isn't in these troubling times?"

He smirked. "Hasn't the King told you to stay at home?"

"I seem to recall that you were given the same orders." Athene glanced over her shoulder, and then stepped closer to him. "I have friends in the Spanish troops. They will cover our passage with them for as long as is needed."

"Where should I be?"

"They are one of the last to sail out," she explained. "They sail three hours after sunset. Be there an hour before. My uncle sails out at the front; he will not know we are there until it is far too late."

Owen bowed low. "Your highness."

He watched her go, and resumed kicking rocks down the road.

# # #

Tosh was once again caught up in the rush of people heading towards the outer defences. The alarms had been sounded calling everyone to arms, and Yves Charlond, the only survivor of the attempt to retake Marsa Alam, lay dying in the infirmary. She broke away from her group and darted down the corridors, trying to find her way through to the command centre where she could be of most use.

The sound of unrestrained grief coming from a side room stopped her in her tracks, and she peered around the door jam. Commander Charlond was bent over the foot of the bed in which his son lay pale and still, with his shoulders shaking. She bowed her head and leaned against the doorframe in a moment of grief for the man she'd barely met.

One of the medics arrived behind her, and rather than send her away he pushed her into the room in front of him. Commander Charlond seemed not to notice either of them, and Tosh found herself assisting the medic in assessing Yves. He had few physical injuries, but he was running a high fever and twitched in some delirium. It was clear that he was critically ill, possibly at death's door, but he wasn't there yet. She rested her hand on the commander's shoulder for a moment and addressed the medic. "We should fetch the Doctor," she told him. "He seems to be suffering from an illness rather than injuries - the Doctor may know better what we are facing."

The medic hesitated for a moment, and that was enough for the commander to wheel on her. He towered over her, with his well-built frame making him seem even taller, and advanced on her until she hit the wall and could retreat no further. "The Doctor," he spat, "is a conjurer of cheap tricks, a meddler, and a bringer of hurt. Where he goes, disaster follows. My sons... Both dead, because of him."

"Sir; Yves, Captain Charlond," she corrected herself, "he's still alive. If I could fetch the Doctor..."

He slapped her and strode past her into the corridors. "Run for your lives," he bellowed. "Run for your lives. Marsam is lost. Run!"

"Oh shut it." The Doctor pushed Charlond out of the way and strode into the room. "Now, did someone need a Doctor?"


	4. Chapter 4

The song was a numb weight at the back of his mind that he couldn't fight through. His heart ached at leaving Ianto behind, but he knew it was the right thing to do, somehow. Andrea guided him on, and it was easy to follow her down through the dunes to the cliffs, where a dark cave descended steeply into a network of tunnels.

She released his hand when they got into the caves and started scampering ahead, going on all fours for balance. The caves were dry but the walls were sticky to the touch, and Jack could feel things knocking against his feet. He drew his hand back and reached for his torch, finding it gone. "Andrea?" he called out. "Andrea, where are you?"

Her laugh echoed around him and re realised dully that he was in a lot of trouble. "Silly Jack," she called. "Tunnel goes through, but do you?"

Fear gripped him, and he stumbled sideways until he felt the wall. He was so disoriented that he couldn't have said which way was forwards and which back, so he stayed rooted where it was. "Andrea, this isn't funny."

She laughed again and he stumbled towards where he thought the sound came from. His feet knocked against more objects on the floor and he kept his gaze straight ahead, determined not to look down even though it was pitch dark. Something slithered behind him and he stumbled on faster, keeping one hand on the wall. He moved faster and faster, away from the slithering, clicking creature, gasping in the dry, cloying air. The sound grew closer, he stumbled, and then he ran into something solid and sticky that flexed when he pushed against it. He yelled out and dragged against the stickiness to get to his knife. It gave way when he ripped at it, but his movement was too limited.

"Caught in the web," Serki crowed. "Silly Jack."

He growled and pushed forwards faster, towards the voice. Andrea's innocent tones were gone, replaced with Serki's cold, calculating sneer. It made it easier to get angry, to push his way through, break through the clinging strands and lunge towards him. His bag got caught, and he paused just long enough to grab a handful of glow sticks from the front pocket and snap them. A hulking shape like a giant worm shied back from the glowing brightness and fled into the tunnels, and Jack saw Serki running away and gave chase.

The tunnels opened up into a sandy cave, where the coloured light from the glow sticks glinted off the silicone in the sand and was reflected and magnified. Three tunnels led off it into the darkness, forcing him to pause and consider his options. Too late he heard the slithering behind him, and he turned just in time to see the huge bulk bearing down on him before he felt teeth dig into his neck and blackness take him.

# # #

Tosh soon found herself back on the front lines of the battle, in the first ring of defence. The outer walls were concrete, stone and steel so thick that nothing could get through it and the only weak point in the defences was the door, a deadlocked entrance with steel a foot thick. Despite its thickness, they could hear the army outside, and the whine of something cutting through the doorway. She shifted her grip on her gun and held it tighter, swallowing hard against the fear.

Hosni was next to her, and he nudged her gently. "You have not seen fight like this?"

"Not like this," she admitted. "Have you?"

He smiled grimly and settled down. "No."

The volume of the assault increased, and then they saw light through the door. It was just a splinter to begin with, so small that they only noticed it because their attentions were fixed on the door, but once it formed the light kept growing. Soon it had burned a large hole in the door, and they had pulled goggles over their eyes to protect them from the brightness. "Be ready to fall back," Hosni called out. "Do not get trapped in the first level."

Tosh glanced at him and returned his grim smile. The hole was now large enough that they could see the enemies in the space between the bright light that was eating away at the door, and all around her the soldiers raised their weapons. A moment later the first round smacked into the wall behind them, and the clatter of machine guns and the whine of energy weapons built into a roaring crescendo that drowned out the screams of the injured.

The door finally crumpled, pushed in by the weight of Okrani, both alive and dead. The dead were dropped where they fell and trampled under the feet of the flow of their companions, and more fell even as they came. There were a few energy weapons amongst them doing terrible damage, but most were armed with hand-to-hand weapons, rude swords and long, heavy poles.

Beyond them, through the narrow doorway, she spotted the huge numbers pressing behind them. From the cries around her she knew that the others had seen them too.

# # #

Ianto found Jack's bag caught in the remains of a web that had stretched across the corridor. The ends of the web were cut roughly, and the knife that had done it lay not far from it, sand sticking to the traces of the web still clinging to it. He shouldered the bag, along with his own, and bent to pick up the knife. Jack's footprints were clear in his torchlight, scuffing through the sand. There was a slithering sound ahead, and Ianto pressed on to find it. It wasn't Jack, but it might have hurt him.

He burst out into a cave to find a huge, pale bulk in the centre of the space. It shrieked and rolled away from the light, fleeing into one of the tunnels when he brandished the torch and his stun-gun at it.

Jack was stretched out on the floor with a handful of glow sticks scattered in front of him. He was still warm to the touch, but Ianto couldn't find a pulse and there was no response to his touch.

"I'm sorry, Jack." He rubbed at his face and brushed his thumb against Jack's cheek. It was sticky from the web and grimy, and Ianto gathered him up awkwardly. "I'll stay."

Jack's body was cooling in his arms when he heard the sound of approaching feet. He raised his head tiredly and waited until he heard voices, the harsh tones of the Okrani, and he had to scramble to collect their things together and hide. "I'm sorry," he whispered, pressing his lips against Jack's briefly. "I won't go far."

There was a crevice in the wall of one of the tunnels, so he pushed the bags in there first and then squashed himself in after them. The Okrani approached down another tunnel and gathered around Jack's prone form, poking him with their feet and weapons. Ianto gritted his teeth and slipped the translator in, picking up halfway through their conversation. "The beast likes them fresh," one of the Okrani was saying. "It won't be far away. Must have disturbed it."

"Bring it," the largest ordered. "They will want to know how he came here."

Ianto gritted his teeth whilst he watched them bundle Jack up and carry him off, and waited until the light of their torches had faded away before he dragged himself out of his hiding place to follow them.

# # #

"Fall back!" Hosni screamed over the roar of battle. "Fall back!"

They started pulling back immediately, the retreat made easier by the fact that they'd been braced and prepared for it already. Most of the injured had already been pulled back and were being taken to the infirmaries, but the last were dragged back behind a last line of soldiers who sprayed the attacking hoards with gunfire.

Tosh made to join them, but felt a hand wrap around her arm. One of the young soldiers was shoved towards her, and she staggered under his weight. "Get him to the infirmary," Hosni told her. "And find the Doctor. This is no place for a woman."

She glared at him, but the soldier she was supporting was bleeding heavily and nearly unconscious. A movement behind Hosni caught her eye, and she whipped her gun up in time to bring the Okrani down with a single shot.

Hosni eyed her and the Okrani with admiration, then grabbed another soldier and shoved him towards her. "Help Tosh get everyone who needs to to the infirmary. We will hold the gate."

"Hosni..."

"Go." He shouldered his weapon and pointed down the corridor. "And seal the doors behind you."

She dragged her gaze away to the soldier she was supporting, and when she looked back Hosni was gone. "Let's go," she ordered. "You heard him."


	5. Chapter 5

Owen set his jaw and glared at the army ahead of them. Their arrival out of the dunes had gone unnoticed, shrouded by the low-hanging storm clouds that shadowed the battlefield, and the sight of the black hoard swarming across the desert and the hard-packed compound was like ants on a pavement. The engines of the bikes purred, metal baking hot after the drive from Luxor despite the shade.

King Kiron turned his bike towards them, and Owen flipped his visor down again, seeing Athene do the same out of the corner of his eye. They had gone unnoticed so far, and now was not the time to be discovered. The king rode past them, surveying his troops, and called out orders to the squadron leaders. When the charge came, Owen and Athene's group was to go straight down the dunes, into the centre of the melee.

"Never thought I'd ride into battle on a dirt bike," he muttered to himself. All around him and through the ranks, soldiers were tightening their gauntlets, adjusting their helmets and taking a firm grip on their weapons. They waited for the signal, poised just behind the crest of the dune, eyes fixed on Kiron.

It came, and they rode up over the hill and opened fire on the hoard below. They were falling before they had realised they were under attack, and beset now on two sides. The narrow entrance to the besieged fort didn't allow for them to adapt their strategy, and the army was divided inside and out. The Okrani turned and rushed towards the mounted army, but the loose sand trapped them at the bottom, under fire and unable to escape.

The sand started to shift under them, and Kiron gave the order to charge. The bikes' wheels bit and span through the sand, and they skidded towards the army, who fled before them.

Just in front of him, Athene's bike lost its grip on the sand and slid from underneath her, sending her tumbling down the dune without protection. Owen veered towards her and threw himself from his own bike, helping her to slide down the hill between the bikes, diving into the sand to slow their fall. They landed in an ungainly heap at the bottom, separated from the battle by a field of carnage.

A shadow fell on them from the top of the hill, and Owen rolled onto his back to see one of the Lashimi bearing down on them with sword outstretched.

# # #

A sandstorm whipped up out of the desert, driving north towards Marsam and blowing the heavy storm clouds ahead of it. Orlando had his scarf wrapped over his face, but he found that as long as they kept up a good pace they didn't need it. The eye of the storm travelled with them, and inside it was utterly still and calm.

They passed abandoned settlements buried under sand on the way, some of them showing signs of recent abandonment. Martin pressed closer to him and they shared a worried glance. Rick was behind the wheel, and had grown intense and distant since they had passed out of the Sudan into Egypt with the dust cloud around them.

He dropped his hand onto Martin's leg and leaned forwards to look at the Sat Nav. "This thing's completely on the blink," he muttered. "There's no way we can have got that far that fast. It should have taken a week."

"The Djin have aided our journey," Rick explained, the first time he'd spoken since he took over the wheel that morning. "That's why they're pressing us for speed - they know we can go faster."

"Not without wrecking the Bobcat, we can't." Martin sighed and turned to look out of the window at the wall of sand. "How did Top Gear do this in an Opal Cadet?"

"By having excellent support teams and not driving through the dunes." They hit another and Orlando grunted as he was thrown into Martin's lap. "Hi again."

"Hi." Martin righted him and kept an arm around him to steady him. "Do you think you could avoid the rocks, Rick?"

"Doing my best." He wrenched the wheel, and this time Martin went crashing into Orlando. "Sorry."

"Appreciate it." Orlando reached out for the sat nav and checked it again. "It's saying we're nearly there. That can't be right."

"We are. Can't you hear them?"

"Hear who?"

"The Djin." Rick glanced at them, and shrugged at their looks of alarm. "It's not like I can see where we're going anyway."

Orlando was about to respond and return conversation to the Djin when a sound outside their world of wind and dust caught his attention. A moment later the storm battered at the car and then swept on, leaving them becalmed and skidding onto the edge of a battlefield.

# # #

Owen tugged on Athene's arm and pulled her back away from the dune. "Don't let it touch you," he hissed. "They got our boss."

The Lashimi seemed to have no problems with the loose sand, and descended the dune even as they struggled away. Its sword flashed in the sunlight and swung between them. In contrast to everyone and everything else there, the Lashimi was dressed only in the shimmering, lightweight clothes that they had worn in Wales, and stood out even in the alien surroundings. It was icy cool and collected as it bore down on them.

"Your rebellion will fall," it hissed. "Bow before your new masters and you will be spared."

"Not a chance." Owen raised his gun. "Eat lead."

The bullets glanced off harmlessly, as they had before, and the Lashimi swept down on them with sword raised. Athene dove towards it and was brushed off easily. She screamed as she fell, but Owen was too hard pressed defending himself to see to her. He swept a solid metal bar from the ground and used it to deflect the Lashimi's blows. Its superior skills, though, drove him back over and over again, back towards the fighting and the increased danger.

And then it stopped. Athene had dragged herself to her feet and struck at it from behind with one of the Okrani's crude swords. The blow, as crude as the weapon was, with sheer blunt force behind it had driven in against the neck, between two of the protruding bones, and driven the bones apart with a sickening crack. The Lashimi swayed once more and crumpled to the ground, and then Owen had to dive forwards to catch Athene as she too tipped forwards.

# # #

The dust storm rolled across the battlefield, filled with chittering laughter. It kicked up into tornadoes that hurtled in pursuit of fleeing Okrani, and formed protective barriers around UNIT troops. The sand gouged at everything in its past, scouring the battlefield clean of the Okrani stains.

Within minutes the battle was over and the wind died to leave an eerie calm, and the bodies buried under a covering of sand. Dazed UNIT troops picked their way through, searching among the bodies for fallen colleagues and friends, no one seeming to dare to raise their voices.

Orlando slid out of the car and followed Martin out into the open. There was such carnage, it was impossible to know where to start. "So much death," he breathed. "How do you stand it?"

"War?" Martin reached for his hand and shrugged. "You don't."

A gust of wind tugged at them and they turned back to face into it. Rick was peering up into the sky, where a glimmer of light danced high above them. "The battle is not yet won," he called. "There is much still to be done before the Earth is safe."

The light danced and whirled, diving closer to them as the wind increased. Orlando tightened his grip on Martin and turned his face away. He heard Rick call out again. "We will recognise your part in this fight, and we will recognise your residence here. All I ask is that you do not abandon us now when the battle is only half fought!"

But the wind died and the light vanished, drifting away with the shadow of a laugh.

"Rick!" They turned towards the fort again. Tosh was hurrying towards them, hair whipping around her face freely. She threw herself at Orlando and Martin first and hugged them tightly, then released them and turned on Rick. "I was so worried about you all," she sobbed. "The battle and..."

"We're safe," Rick assured her, holding her just as tightly. "We stayed out of it, stayed safe."

She pulled back and looked around. "What about Owen, is he with you?"

"No, we left him in Athens," Martin told her. "He was told he couldn't ride with UNIT, so he'll have stayed."

Tosh gave him a disbelieving look and turned back to the battlefield. "No, he'll be here. I hope..."

They all exchanged looks and, without another word, set to combing the battlefield for their friend.


	6. Chapter 6

The natural tunnels merged into neater, carved ones with doorways and rooms leading off them. Ianto got the feeling that he was walking through a lost city that had been submerged. It was dry underfoot still, and after a period of shouting that echoed down the corridors and seemed to come from every angle it was utterly quiet. He came to a guard room where two Okrani lay dead, and passed on into a large chamber. The dead lay all around the room as if there had been a fight, and Ianto shuddered to think of what could have done it. Quiet voices emerged from a darker doorway, and he crept through the carnage towards them.

Steps led down from the door, carved into the rock, and wound around the edge of the chamber. As he expected, he found another chamber at the bottom, smaller than the one above and lit by a single swaying lamp that burned bright, spluttering white. Jack lay gagged and bound on a bench, squirming away from the lone Okrani that stood over him with a knife.

"I'm going to bleed you," the Okrani snarled. "Hear you scream."

Ianto drew his gun and shot before the Okrani could move again and hurried forwards to drag it off Jack, who sobbed and lunged towards him. He caught Jack up and stroked his bare skin reassuringly whilst he fumbled at the knots binding his arms behind his back. "I've got you, you're safe. It's okay, I've got you."

As soon as his hands were free, Jack reached up to rip the gag out and returned to clinging to Ianto. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"It's alright, it's alright." He kissed Jack's temple and started rocking him. "I've got you now."

They pulled themselves together, holding onto each other tightly. Jack's clothes had been taken, and he searched around the room desperately. "Ianto, they took it, they took it. It's over..."

"No, they didn't get it." He caught Jack's hands and held him still. "I took it before they could get to you."

"Give it to me." Jack scrabbled at him until Ianto returned the device to him and he could clutch it to his chest. "I'm sorry; it's got its claws in me so badly."

"It's alright, I had figured that out." He kissed Jack once more and passed him a jumper. "We'll get rid of it soon and then everything will be fine."

Jack slumped against him and nodded. "I want to go home. I want this to be over."

"We will be soon." Ianto held him tighter, helped him into clothes from his own pack and then guided him out and onwards, through the lost city.

# # #

"We need to keep them distracted," the Doctor muttered, pacing the length of the control centre and running his hands through his hair. "We need to make sure that Jack and Ianto are free to do what they need to, if they've got through the tunnel."

"Can you stop with the 'if'," Martin snapped. "Nothing can happen to Jack, and he won't let anything happen to Ianto. They'll get there."

"If... if we help them." The Doctor stopped and leaned on a table. "But how can we divert them?"

"We can draw their forces away from their base," Rick stated. "Marsam and Marsa Alam are too close, they can respond too quickly. We need to draw their forces north."

"No, no, we're not going to fight."

"Yes we are." They all turned and looked at Rick. "Doctor, fighting is all we have. We've proved our strength - they'll take the challenge. Nothing else will draw them out."

The Doctor started pacing again, shaking his head. "You can travel north, keep moving, draw them out and try - try - not to engage them. There's been too much loss of life already."

"Sometimes our lives are all we have to give," Tosh commented. "If that's what we've got, it'll have to do."

# # #

They drove north along the coast after dawn the next day, passing abandoned settlements and signs of battle everywhere they passed. By sunset they had reached the ruined remains of the city of Suez, and they set up camp there in the skeletal buildings whilst the tail of the convoy rolled into the city.

They got an uneasy night's sleep, broken by animalistic cries in the darkness. Dawn, though, came in stillness and silence, without even the cry of a bird to break the eerie quiet.

Overnight, the harbour had filled with elegant, fragile-looking boats. Their delicate appearance was in stark contrast to the bristling darkness of the Okrani swarming on their decks. Tosh watched the boats approach, wrapping her arms tighter around her chest, and spoke without turning to look at the footsteps approaching behind her. "I've faced the end of the world before," she told them, "but never with such certainty."

"The Doctor's going to parlay." Rick squeezed her shoulder, and when she looked at him at last he gave her a wry smile. "That should keep them busy, at least. Buy us some time."

"But we have no idea how much time we need," she pointed out. "Jack and Ianto could be days away from their goal, they could be captured or... Sorry. Think positive, right?"

"That's the spirit." They fell silent to watch the boats approaching, carried on a dry, hot breeze.

The front boat broke away from the flotilla, picking up speed towards the shore. A lone figure stood at the prow, and as they came closer Tosh recognised the figure as a tall woman, human at least in appearance, with wildly curling golden hair, dressed in fine silver-blue robes that billowed around her and with heavy silver jewellery set with large blue stones at her throat, wrists and waist. In her hand was a long, elegantly twisted staff.

When the boat ground up onto the shore, the woman used her staff to swing herself down onto the beach, and only paused to collect a bag from the boat before she began to pick her way up over the rocks.

They stretched out in a line on either side of the Doctor to meet her. She seemed unworried by their stony faces and the number of weapons they carried, even though she carried only a gun and the staff, and her hands were too full to reach them.

"I brought you a gift," she told them with evident glee when she got close enough, tossing the sack ahead of her at the Doctor's feet before covering the last few feet with greater ease. "It's something from your friend. I thought you might want a token of him."

The Doctor kept glaring at her, so Rick stepped forwards and collected the bag. Whilst the woman grinned at them, he reached in and pulled out the edge of a piece of dirty, ripped white material. He pulled more out and found a piece of blue material. It was only when he had them both out that Tosh recognised them as clothes - Jack's clothes. She gasped and felt Owen stiffen beside her.

"Oh you do know him," the woman crowed. "I thought we were going to have to play that silly game where you pretend not to care about him."

"Where is he?" Owen demanded. "What have you done to him?"

"He was caught trying to break into your masters' base," she told him, shaking her head disapprovingly. "I think he learned his lesson before the end, though. It took such a long time to teach him." She leaned on her staff and smiled up at the sky. "You can keep those. He doesn't need them anymore, after all."

"River," the Doctor snapped. "What are you doing here?"

The woman grinned at him. "Hello Sweetie."

They all turned, as one, to look at the Doctor, who strode up to her and crowded into her personal space. She carried on grinning at him, and didn't even flinch when he leaned closer to peer at her. "Did you use the psychedelic lip-gloss on them?"

She looked disgusted at the idea. "Have you smelled their breath? There are some levels that even I won't sink to. No, our Lashimi overlords needed someone non-threatening with a good grasp of languages and an understanding of the planet's culture and political structure to liaise with the local communities and make the take-over go more smoothly."

He chuckled. "And what happened to that person?"

"Oh, him I used the psychedelic lip-gloss on." She tapped her lips. "I'm safe now, though."

The Doctor shook his head. "What are you doing here?"

"They sent me - well, him - to talk to you. You can't win against them, Doctor." He went to turn away and she grabbed his arm, looking sincere for the first time in the conversation. "Take the people you care about and go, please. You can't fight..."

"Go where?" He shook his head and dragged his arm out of her grip. "And you have one of the people I care about. I can't leave him."

Rick growled. "Doctor, who is this?"

"This," the Doctor gestured at her. "Is River Song. Intergalactic pest, but a good woman despite it," he added grudgingly.

She smirked at their confused glares. "I try my best."

# # #

The lost city looked to have been abandoned recently. The sand was scuffed up and scattered with broken and forgotten equipment. They picked their way through the passages, with Jack leaning heavily on Ianto. He stumbled often, weakened by the attack in the tunnel and his capture. Ianto had to drag him along at times and stop for him, waiting until he could get up again and go on.

Eventually the carved tunnels dropped suddenly and grew damp and water stained, then they met steel and glass tunnels, sealed against the pressure of the water. They crept in and through the passages, put off-kilter by the eerie silence and the emptiness. Here too there were signs of abandonment, as if the forces had left quickly, but there was a greater feel of watchfulness.

Ianto thought that he was asleep and dreaming when they turned a corner and found themselves in a control room, but he was in too much pain for it to be a dream. He drew his gun again and took up position by the door, looking over at Jack and smiling encouragingly. "This is it, then. Can you do it from here?"

Jack staggered to the control panel and sank into the chair, trembling hands reaching for the desk. "I don't... I don't know."

He frowned at him and stepped towards him. "What, is it not the right place?"

"No, it's the... the song. I can't go against it. I'm sorry." He gripped the desk, white knuckled, and Ianto realised that he was fighting against a stronger impulse. "I can't... Ianto."

A sharp pain on the back of his head reminded him that he'd turned his back on the tunnel and he slumped against the wall, vision fogging for a moment. The sounds of a struggle were distant as if heard through water, and the world swayed when he dragged himself to his feet. Andrea and Jack were fighting; she was clinging to his back and clawing at him whilst he tried to dislodge her. Blood ran from a deep scrape on his cheek where she'd nearly caught his eye.

The device lay abandoned on the floor, kicked out of the way in the struggle, its lights blinking softly. Ianto shook his head to clear the dizziness and the edge of its influence and staggered across the floor to it. As soon as he touched it he felt it pushing at his mind, trying to get control. Wires and cables cluttered the desk, and Ianto found one that looked right, jammed it into one of the ports on the side of the device and plugged the other end into the computers.

Immediately the screens lit up, flashing red and black, and both Jack and Serki fell to their knees with their hands over their ears. Even Ianto could feel the mental control the machines exerted failing and spluttering nonsense at him, but it hadn't had time to get into his mind - not like it had for Jack. He fell to his knees beside Jack and wrapped his arms around him, holding him tight. "I've got you. Please be alright."

The machinery was spitting out sparks and smoke, and alarms were ringing throughout the structure. Ianto gathered Jack up and started hauling him out of the control room, back the way they'd come. He started sobbing when Jack fell still in his arms and slumped to the ground to hold him. "I'm sorry," he whispered into Jack's hair. "I can't go on. I'll be here for you."

He combed his fingers through Jack's filthy hair and tried not to hear the creaking of the failing seals and the roar of building fires in the control room.

# # #

The boats with the army had got closer, and River stepped back towards them. "Doctor, I can't stop them unless you surrender."

"We won't," Rick insisted before the Doctor could. "We have to fight."

She looked back at her army once more and tossed her staff aside, striding towards them to take her place in their line and reaching for her gun. "Then I guess I'll have to join you." She looked sideways at the Doctor. "Can't let you die."

He smiled absently. "Can't let you die, either. Spoilers."

The first boats touched the shore and the confused created by River's defection dissipated as the first soldiers leapt into the water to stream up the beach. They fell back towards the UNIT troops and everyone reached for their weapons. The Okrani hoard swarmed towards them and around them, surrounding them and trapping them on the flat tarmac before the beach. Tosh reached out and felt Owen take her hand for a moment. "This could be it," she whispered.

"It was going to come eventually." He released her hand and steadied his gun in both hands. "I never thought I'd die in battle."

"It's strange, isn't it?" The army kept coming, more and more of them swarming across the ships that had already disgorged their hoard. The more they came, the more futile the fight seemed. She sighed and set her shoulders. "This is for Jack and Ianto."

Rick was next to her and glanced down at her, nodding his agreement. "For Jack and Ianto."

At last, the Okrani had all disembarked the boats, and their army surrounded the UNIT force more than a dozen deep on all sides. They roared and shrieked, bashing their weapons together to create a din that drowned out Owen's next words. Tosh could barely think over the sound of it.

And then it stopped.

Silence descended on the waterfront and hung in the air, as fragile as glass, then, like glass, it shattered. Their strange chittering turned frantic and confused, they turned this way and that, lost and dismayed, and turned away from the battle. Whilst the UNIT troops watched in bewilderment, the Okrani fled, some towards the sea, some towards the desert, and some into the city. The Doctor straightened his bow tie and turned to them. "I believe that was a message from Jack and Ianto." He raised his voice and rocked back on his heels. "The Lashimi's system has been destroyed. Their controls are neutralised. Earth is safe!"

The cheer that rippled through the crowd was drowned out by an almighty explosion far out in the sea, which sent water fountaining up. Tosh only had to look at the Doctor to know that Jack and Ianto had been in there.

# # #

Jack gasped back to life, reaching out for Ianto and the song at the same time. Ianto was there, his arms loose around Jack, and the song was silent. He forced himself to sit up, stirring Ianto, and shook him. "Ianto. God, Ianto."

"'m here," he mumbled, raising his head with difficulty. "Jack."

"Come on." His head was throbbing but apparently not as much as Ianto's, so he grabbed him and hauled him to his feet. "We have to go."

Ianto was a dead weight against him, a reversal of roles, and carrying him was sapping Jack's renewed, adrenaline-fuelled strength. He stumbled repeatedly, tripping over his feet and Jack, and no matter how hard he tried he seemed unable to support his own weight. They'd barely got any distance before he had to lean his whole weight on Jack just to keep upright, and soon after he pitched forwards, dragging out of Jack's arms and falling to the floor with a weak cry.

He dropped to his knees beside him and rolled him over, cradling him in his lap. "Ianto? Ianto, stay with me," he begged.

"Here," Ianto breathed, curling towards Jack. "I'm sorry."

"Don't." He curled over him awkwardly and kissed him. "You'll be fine. Just save your strength."

Ianto smiled up at him. "You knew what I was apologising for."

He shook his head fiercely. "No. Not now we've come so far."

"I don't have much choice." He rubbed his head against Jack's stomach and groaned when Jack pulled him into a sitting position. His head dropped to Jack's shoulder instead. "Remember me, please?"

"Forever," he promised, choking on tears. "Please don't leave me."

Ianto smiled and closed his eyes. "I wish I were in Cardiff. But as long as I'm with you."

"Ianto..." He choked and held him closer. "I love you."

He got no response.

The base was creaking around them, passages filling with smoke from fires whilst streams of water started pouring in through the seals as the pressure decreased. A door ahead of them burst open, forced in by the pressure of the water bearing down on them, and the rush caught them up and dragged them along. The force pressed them together, and the last thought Jack had before he succumbed to the pressure was that he was glad he hadn't let go.


	7. Chapter 7

A limp breeze stirred the room and lifted the oppressive, dry heat, pushing the mosquito net against the bed and brushing it against his hand. He turned his head to the side and peered through the gauze at the figure sitting in the chair. "Jack?" His voice came out as a croak, but it drew the man's attention. When he pulled the curtains aside he realised that it wasn't Jack. "Oh..."

"Hello, Ianto." The man tucked his hands into the pockets of his entirely inappropriate Tweed jacket and smiled down at him. "You gave us quite a scare."

He nodded cautiously and decided that it was best to lie still. "I thought I'd died," he admitted.

"Only nearly." The stranger pulled the chair closer and sat down again. "The Nereids brought you to safety, but it was still a very close thing. If we'd found you much later than we did, you probably wouldn't have made it."

Ianto studied him again, taking in the Tweed and the bow tie and the hair, and made an educated guess. "Doctor?"

"Yes?" He peered at him, and then realisation dawned. "Oh yes, new face! Everyone else is used to it by now. New me - less grumpy, mostly. Well, I can be very grumpy, but I try not to be more. Am I making sense?"

"Nothing is making much sense," he admitted. "You especially."

"Wait here," the Doctor ordered. "I'll go find someone to make sense."

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the momentary peace and quiet. It was broken all too soon by hurrying feet and raised voices. Tosh and Owen piled into the doorway, crashing into each other in their haste to get to him. "You're awake!" Tosh cried, hurrying over to squeeze his hand. "We were so worried."

Owen took his other hand and raised it so he could take his pulse, counting it against his watch. "Heart rate's slightly elevated, but at least your fever's gone down. I take it you knew about the malnutrition, dehydration, near drowning..."

"He was there, Owen," Rick told him as he entered. "And we've all heard it several times." He reached past Tosh to squeeze Ianto's shoulder. "Welcome back."

He smiled up at him and over to Orlando and Martin. "You all made it, then?"

"All but Anton," Tosh confirmed quietly.

The silence settled over them, comfortable and thoughtful. Tosh's hand was warm in his, more calloused than he remembered, and her bare shoulders were peeling from sunburn. He squeezed it gently and picked at the blanket with the other hand. "It's a miracle any of us made it this far."

"Yeah."

There were more footsteps down the corridor, and they turned as one to face the door. Jack leaned against the doorframe casually, holding the mosquito net aside with one hand. "Nice of you to join us," he said, and the tightness of his voice gave him away.

The mood broke, and people shifted aside to let him get to the bed. As Tosh stepped back against the wall Jack took her spot, hauling Ianto towards him and kissing him fiercely. Ianto clung to him, running his hands up his back to his shoulders, and kissed back. He shook in Jack's arms, cradled securely and safely, and the tears came at last. Jack gentled, and he moved to kiss away Ianto's tears. "I've got you," Jack told him, crying himself. "I'll always have you."

# # #

"We remember today those who gave their lives to defend us and the safety of this world," Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart intoned solemnly, looking around the gathered crowd. The flat, cracked and stained concrete outside the Marsam UNIT base was crowded with canopies that shaded the packed tables and staved off the burning sun. Ianto held Jack's hand under the table, tracing a thumb along his palm. The eulogy continued, the Brigadier's measured tones rumbling across them and down towards the distant sea, where sunlight sparkled on the waves.

Jack squeezed his hand and he lifted his head again to smile tiredly. He was still recovering, they both were, and the dry heat was sapping his energy, making it hard to concentrate on the Brigadier's deep, steady voice. "Still here," he murmured, quietly enough that only Jack would hear. "Just."

"You zoned out," Jack told him. "Thought you'd want to hear this, though."

"We are entering a new era," the Brigadier was saying. "A new age of understanding and communication could be here, if we reach out and take it. The world's eyes are upon us, and the hidden peoples of the world finally have their moment to join us. We must not waste this opportunity; there is no going back, but there are many ways we could go forwards. Some will lead us into darkness and division. Some may lead us to the stars. Wherever we go, we must make this journey together.

"We will rely on our guides and those who have gone before us. The Doctor, who came in our hour of need as he so often does; Captain Jack Harkness, without whose courage and strength our fight may have had a very different outcome; and Ianto Jones, without whom Jack surely wouldn't have made it; their companions on the journey that brought them here and brought us through the greatest threat we have ever faced. Their leadership has brought us this far, and will take us on." He looked around at them and his eyes landed on Rick. "And so I would like to introduce Brigadier Richard Rant, whose duty it is to lead us forwards from this point, united and strong with all the peoples of this world."

Rick stood to loud applause and leaned on the back of his chair, looking out at them. His hair was clean and brushed, at last, but he'd kept it long as a reminder of what they'd done - or so he insisted. Gone were the scruffy slacks and grimy T shirts, replaced by a pristine officer's uniform. He waited for the applause to die down before he spoke. "It only took a night for our safe little world to be shattered. It took a month for us to be able to begin putting it back together. Our lives will never be the same again. From now on, we operate in the public eye - not just witnessed by humans, but by the hidden people whose time has come. We must remember where we've come from, but we can never return there. We must never want to." He raised his glass in a toast. "To the future."

The crowd stood as one and joined him in the toast. Ianto let Jack wrap an arm around his waist and glanced to the side to smile at him. They held each other's eyes as they drank, and when they sat down again he leaned his head on Jack's shoulder.

Only one person remained standing. She was dressed in a simple summer dress rather than a uniform, and had been sitting with the delegation from CERN. All eyes were on her as she strode to the top table and dropped to one knee in front of Rick. "Brigadier Rant," she started, her clear voice carrying over the surprised murmurs. "Will you marry me?"

He looked over at Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who covered his eyes with one hand, failing to hide a smile, and waved the other one in a 'go on' gesture. Their audience broke into applause and cheers as Rick pulled to her feet and kissed her. "Alistair's granddaughter and Perdita's daughter," Jack explained to Ianto quietly. "They were childhood sweethearts, and Alastair made the mistake of telling Rick that he could only marry her when he became Brigadier."

"That's a bit harsh."

Jack shrugged and wrapped his arms around Ianto again. "He was thirteen." He turned his head and kissed Ianto's cheek. "That is going to be one hell of a wedding party."

# # #

Ianto woke to an empty bed again and reached out for the cold pillow beside him. The first time it happened after they returned he'd flown into a panic and spent the rest of the night curled in Jack's arms, once he found him. Two weeks later, after it had happened every night since, he clung to the warm cocoon he'd created for a moment before he dragged himself out of bed, pulled Jack's discarded shirt on and shuffled through to the living room, where Jack was sitting by the window, resting his temple against it and staring out across the bay.

He shifted when Ianto arrived; settling down with one leg outstretched and his shoulder to the window so that Ianto could curl against him rather than the cold glass, and wrapped himself around Ianto as soon as he sat down. "It's cold," he whispered. "I can't get warm, no matter where I am."

Ianto smothered a yawn and raised his head from Jack's shoulder. "You'd be warmer if you stayed in bed." He got no response, so he tightened his arm around Jack's waist and settled down again. "It'll get better."

"Really?" His voice shook with tiredness and distress. "How?"

He had no answer to that, so he let Jack get up and pull him to his feet, then lead him back to the bedroom. They dressed in silence, and Ianto held still whilst Jack fastened his own shirt up over Ianto's chest. It was still dark when Jack closed and locked the front door behind them and took his hand to lead him down the wooden boardwalk towards the Hub. The night was warm and still, and the waves lapped gently at the supports below them whilst their slow footsteps echoed eerily off the walls.

They went past the silent shops and restaurants, up through Mermaid Quay and down the steps onto the Plass. The pillar lights lit up ahead of them and curved around to the water tower. It shouldn't have been running but it was, casting a faint mist over the tall blue box in front of it. Ianto tightened his grip on Jack's hand and forced himself to keep up, keep walking towards the golden light that spilled out across the pavement from the open door.

"Jack?" They'd come to a stop in front of the TARDIS and Ianto couldn't force himself to let go of his grip on Jack's hand. "What's he doing here?"

"I asked him to come. We saved the world, but who saves us?" He turned to Ianto and shook his head. "I can't bear the silence anymore. Being here, it's like I'm hollow and empty."

Ianto swallowed hard and reached out for him, but dropped his hand before it touched him. His other hand still clung to Jack's. "When... will you come back?" he asked, choking on emotion.

Jack shook his head, but when Ianto tried to pull away he grabbed him and held him close. "Please come with me," he begged. "He'll take us wherever you want to go, and he can bring us back so no one notices we've been gone..."

"What?"

"You didn't think the invitation was one person only, did you?" River Song was leaning in the TARDIS doorway, grinning at them, and she laughed at his shocked expression. "I wouldn't let him leave you behind, even if he wanted to."

Ianto turned back to Jack and swallowed. "I never thought..."

"I couldn't go without you," Jack promised, pulling into a tight embrace. "I wouldn't want to. Please come with us."

He tangled his hands in Jack's coat and kissed him hard. "Wherever you go," he promised breathlessly. "Don't scare me like that again."

The Doctor's voice drifted out of the open door, asking River if they were 'being cute again'. She merely laughed and disappeared back into the TARDIS, leaving Jack and Ianto clinging to each other in the empty Plass.

"Is that a yes?" Jack asked at last. "Will you come?"

"Yes! Yes, I'll come." He kissed Jack again and laughed. "Where else would I want to be if I'm not with you?"

"Come on, you two!" the Doctor yelled. "We have relaxing to do."

Ianto laughed and wiped the tears off his cheeks. "That's us told." He looked back down the Plass and pressed closer to Jack. "Will we ever come back?"

"I don't know. Not alone." He slid his hand down Ianto's arm and laced their fingers together. "Shall we?"

"Yeah." He turned to face the TARDIS and smiled. "Let's."

The dark, empty Plass rang with the sound of time and space rearranging themselves, and then silence filled it once more.


End file.
